...and Celtic Football Club followed me. That's right sports fans, Celtic FC have invaded Toronto, for no other reason that to force bald, drunken, puking louts upon me once again.

My husband and I were on our way home from the movies this evening (M. Night Shyamalan's new movie, The Village, is more of a renter - good, but not great), when the baw-heids descended upon us on the subway. Their green-and-white-striped team strips sent shivers down my spine. I had hoped never again to be in a group of these people.

Allow me to explain. When I first moved to Scotland, I looked forward to perhaps attending a soccer game or two, just as my husband is looking forward to hockey season here in Canada - because it's traditional. But as I became more and more aware of the underbelly of Scottish culture (it ain't all sheep and kilts, let me just say!), I discovered NEDS (Non Educated DelinquentS). A vast majority of these NEDS were supporters of either Celtic (Catholic) or Rangers (Protestant), the two major Glasgow teams. So voracious was their sectarian support of their teams, that violence was the norm instead of the exception. In addition, it is a rare Scottish man who can hold his liquor, and so the streets would be full of drunken, fighting, puking, unattractive men wearing green. Bottom line: I couldn't wait to get back to Canada.

Mr Right and I noticed tonight the vast difference between Scottish Celtic supporters, and those that were born and raised here in Canada that might have Scottish relatives, and therefore support Grandpa's "home team." The Scottish ones were out earlier in the day, heading toward various bars around the city where they could get good and drunk well before the game. The Canadian Celtic fans left their homes with just enough time to make it to the stadium, often escorting wives or elderly parents. These people just wanted to watch a soccer game.

And I hope they are not disappointed. I hope they enjoy themselves, and that the Scots who are in town behave, and don't make assholes of themselves, the way they do at Parkhead in Glasgow.

Let's face it, America is the most loved, most hated, most feared and most admired country in the world - hell, we're Frank Sinatra. And Sinatra didn't become Sinatra by asking Charles Aznevour how to sing! We're on our own in this one.

Ryerson University hasn't been aggressive enough in denouncing the "Die Muslim die" graffiti found spray-painted on a wall of the campus's multi-faith room, says the Canadian Arab Federation.
"When these things are kept quiet, they are allowed to continue," said Audrey Jamal, executive director of the national not-for-profit federation.

Whine, whine, whine. How come it's okay, and largely kept out of the news, when synagogues and cemeteries are defaced with anti-Semitic graffiti, but we're supposed to blow a gasket when a bratty student writes something nasty about Muslims?

"I was very upset, because I don't think any citizen should have to feel intimidated, especially in universities, which are supposed to be a place for debate," said Nahla Darkazanli, president of Ryerson's Arab Students' Association.

Stay off the roads, folks. 
 

The number of elderly drivers in Ontario who can expect to encounter dementia will triple by 2028, warns a new study that has prompted calls from health experts for a standardized test to screen Canada's aging motorists.

 
This has been a problem for years. For example, my friend's grandfather still has a license, but destroys a car every 18 months. He's 87. So far, neither his insurance company nor the license bureau have done anything about keeping him off the road.
 

In recent years, accidents involving aging drivers have made national and international headlines. An 86-year-old man drove into a farmers' market in Santa Monica, Calif., last year, killing nine people and injuring dozens more.

And in April 2000, Toronto resident Beth Kidnie, a 43-year-old mother of three, was dragged 700 metres to her death beneath the sedan of 84-year-old Pilar Hicks, who was convicted of criminal negligence causing death and given a conditional 15-month jail sentence.

Her driving privileges were also permanently revoked.

Casablanca now has a real Rick's Cafe.
 

Palm trees flank the entrance. Inside, piano music wafts through white archways into cosy alcoves lit by coloured lanterns and candles. At the bar, waiters in traditional fez caps and wide legged trousers serve cocktails to upmarket customers.

"Play it again Sam?... well, yes I do hear that once or twice," laughs the pianist whose name really is Issam.
 
Rick's Cafe was set up by former US embassy official Kathy Kriger.
 
"I wanted to remind people how there's more to American values.
"I think people have forgotten we're a country where we're free to take risks, we're hard-working and you can gamble with your dreams... I think a female entrepreneur doing this also sends a positive message."

Lots going on in the news this week, what with poor Martha Stewart being sent to decorate the Big House. I hope she makes it out with her dignity intact.
 
I've taken to reading Al Jazeera lately, because it's interesting to see how the other half lives. And the comments are funny. They all seem to be written by illiterate twelve-year-olds. Some of the fun stuff I've read today...
 
"A Muslim has accused a contractor at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport of denying him a security job based on his religion and national origin."
 
This man, Ahmed Mohamed [pretty much covers all bases for original names from the Middle East, doesn't it? - RG] is not a US citizen, yet expects to work airport security in a post-9/11 world. And if he doesn't get the job, he sues. Using government courts in a country he doesn't belong to (Notice I didn't say belong in? That's not for me to decide). Sweet. Read the comments, too.
 
"lexi from florida,usa do you have some sort of deep hatred about muslims. from your nonesense thinking, your telling me that an immigrant is an alien and on top of that a muslim doesn't desrve to fly an american airplane. what ever happened to fairness and equality? oh wait let me answer that. there never was fairness and equality. your government and the white house planned the 9/11 attacks, similar to when the cia told reporters that they were planning to attack the u.s in the 1960's inorder to crush cuba. don't say anything you don't know about muslims. al aqaed'aa and osama bin laden aired a tape on al**** long time saying that they did not mastermin the attack and that the white house did, and he only rejoiced at what happened. you lexi are brainwashed to believe that we muslims hijacked planes and crashed them in america. peace" - Muhammad Islam from Canada
 
I like how he ends with "peace".
 
And...
 
"The FBI said that Al Qaeda network may be recruiting non-Arabs less likely to attract notice as they carry out attacks in the United States. "
 
This has been a long time coming. We all know that an Arab is more likely to be suspected of subversion, so paying some white guy or gal to do the dirty work makes more sense. No one would suspect me walking through an airport, but some guy named Iqbal has it rough. That's why security has to be stepped up yet another notch. And why guys like Ahmed Mohamed, mentioned above, who aren't US citizens, should not be allowed to hold jobs where security is an issue.
 
Additionally, I hear people complaining that since 9/11, certain human rights and freedoms have been put in jeopardy, and that it goes against the Constitution (or agains the Charter, here in Canada). Too bad. I mean it. We can't have it both ways. We can either have the completely free society that we have become accustomed to, and risk terror and invasion; or we can put a few of our liberties on hold for a while (just for a while), in order to weed out the bad apples that are ruining it for the rest of us. Some of the liberals out there may counter with "That's what Al Qaeda wants - they want us to lose our freedoms!" Sorry, but they want a hell of a lot more than that. They want us to lose our lives. I, as a decent law abiding citizen, would rather have the odd piece of mail scanned at the post office, or the occasional black Chevy drive by me on the way to work - because I have nothing to hide. You know what they'd find in my email account, if they decided to look? Emails asking me if I would like to enlarge my penis, along with an invitation to a barbecue last month that I haven't deleted yet. My garbage would reveal junk mail, dirty cat litter (they're welcome to it!), and smelly sunflower seed shells. Any anthrax would be what I scraped off my week-old dishes when I finally got around to washing them. The loss of liberties does not actually affect the average Joe Shmoe. But those with something to hide might be a little unnerved by the possibility. Good. Because those of you who are actually up to no good - it's only a matter of time before you're caught. And when we get you, we'll throw away the key.
 
And last but not least, from the BBC...
 
"Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has urged all French Jews to move to Israel immediately to escape anti-Semitism."
 
How would they be escaping anti-Semitism in Israel? Instead of having their graves desecrated, instead they would be blown to bits by Palestinian suicide bombers. Hardly problem solved!
 
"A week ago President Jacques Chirac rushed to condemn an apparently anti-Semitic attack on a Paris train that turned out to be a hoax.

Our correspondent adds that his haste only aggravated passions among many in the Muslim community who feel they are the instant scapegoats. "
 
Do they ever stop to wonder why they are the scapegoats? Have they ever actually read the Qu'ran, where Jews are the scapegoats for everything from poverty to a hangnail? As I said above, if you have something to be guilty about, you're always going to think that the government is out to get you. They are! And you deserve it!
 

The Philipines are pulling out of Iraq early. One of the Bulgarian hostages (they don't know which one yet) has been executed. The bravehearts of Canada declined to lend a hand at all.

Does America have any friends left?

All this anti-American sentiment reminds me of an old radio broadcast form the 70's, which I heard for the first time in the days following September 11. It is by the late Montreal news radio guru Gord Sinclair of CJAD. I found the transcript here, and I reprint the entire message in full.

June 5, 1973
The United States dollar took another pounding on German, French and British exchanges this morning, hitting the lowest point ever known in West Germany. It has declined there by

41% since 1971 and this Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least-appreciated people in all the Earth.

As long as 60 years ago, when I first started to read newspapers, I read of floods on the Yellow River and the Yangtze. Who rushed in with men and money to help? The Americans did.

They have helped control floods on the Nile, the Amazon, the Ganges and the Niger. Today, the rich bottom land of the Mississippi is under water and no foreign land has sent a dollar to help.

Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy, were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions in debts. None of those countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States.

When the franc was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it.

When distant cities are hit by earthquakes, it is the United States that hurries into help ... Managua, Nicaragua is one of the most recent examples. So far this spring, 59 American communities have been flattened by tornadoes. Nobody has helped.

The Marshall Plan ... the Truman Policy ... all pumped billions upon billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now, newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent war-mongering Americans. I'd like to see one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplanes.

Come on ... let's hear it! Does any other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing jumbo jet, the Lockheed Tristar or the Douglas 10? If so, why don't they fly them? Why do all international lines except Russia fly American planes? Why does no other land on Earth even consider putting a man or woman on the moon?

You talk about Japanese technocracy and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy and you get automobiles. You talk about American technocracy and you find men on the moon, not once, but several times ... and safely home again. You talk about scandals and the Americans put theirs right in the store window for everyone to look at. Even the draft dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are here on our streets, most of them ... unless they are breaking Canadian laws ... are getting American dollars from Ma and Pa at home to spend here.

When the Americans get out of this bind ... as they will ... who could blame them if they said "the hell with the rest of the world." Let someone else buy the bonds, Let someone else build or repair foreign dams or design foreign buildings that won't shake apart in earthquakes.

When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them.

When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both are still broke. I can name to you 5,000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble.

Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake.

Our neighbours have faced it alone and I am one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles. I hope Canada is not one of these. But there are many smug, self-righteous Canadians.

And, finally, the American Red Cross was told at its 48th annual meeting in New Orleans this morning that it was broke.

This year's disasters ... with the year less than half-over has taken it all and nobody ... but nobody ... has helped.

I remember being taught in school to hate America. Well, the word hate was never actually used, but the sentiment was there. And as I got older, many of my friends became very patriotic about Canada (which was touching, and should be respected), but not one could ever specifically name something Canada had done that we could be patriotic about. My highschool friends came to despise anything that was Canadian. That feeling became part of our culture when Molson launched its I AM CANADIAN advertising campaign a couple of years ago.

Bill O'Reilly of Fox News comments on this phenomenon.

According to a new poll, 40 percent of Canadian teenagers think America is an evil country. Among French-Canadian teens, the number jumps to 64 percent. Those numbers can be laid right on the doorstep of the Canadian media and government

He goes on to list the good deeds America has done over the past century, while pointing out that there are few, if any that Canada took the initiative on. Canada has, in the past, joined the US when they went to war. However, it was rare to see Canada actually make that call to arms themselves.

And Bill also points out that "Old friends are not necessarily true friends." If the US can no longer depend on Canada, then why the hell should Canada think they can continue to depend on the US?

So, pardon me as I object to the Michael Moores of the world — and that man is too cowardly to come in here, all right? Pardon me as I object to the anti-American foreign press and bums like Chirac in France and Chretien in Canada.

America has a provable history of freeing oppressed people all over the world in fighting evil dictators. Canada should be ashamed that so many of its young people are flat out ignorant. And Americans should wise up and realize we are living in a changing world. Old friends are not necessarily true friends.

Except for his comment about Chretien, who we put out to pasture some time ago, his comments are spot on.

I have a long commute on the subway into work every day, and I read the free "Metro" paper on the way in. While it's not the far-out liberal rag that comes free on Thursdays, it is still Canadian journalism (even though most of it comes from AP). Here are a couple of the ridiculously Leftist stories I came across this week.

From Thursday, July 8: Jeremy Hinzman, one of the "brave" American soldiers that fled to Canada to avoid going to Iraq, has applied for asylum in Canada, fearing he may face the death penalty in the US.

Jeremy Hinzman, 25, who left the 82nd Airborne Regiment in January before its deployment to Iraq, says he believes the U.S.-led war is contrary to international law and "waged on false pretences." He believes he would be "a criminal" if he were to take part.

Although there was no draft to dodge, he feels his claim is justified nonetheless.

While the U.S. Army no longer conscripts its soldiers, Hinzman says he was a member of "the demographic draft," enticed by a college fund and the promise of "higher education and security."

During basic training, recruits were required to chant slogans such as "trained to kill, kill we will," but he began to doubt he could and came to realize "that I made a profound mistake in joining the infantry." His views solidified when he embraced Buddhism, he said.

Andy you just know that Canada will support his claim. Any hard-luck case that embraces the Left is just more fodder for the Anti-American machine. - Report from the Toronto Star

From Friday July 9: A letter from a reader, regarding the fining of US Air Force pilot Major Harry Schmidt for the bombing of a Canadian training camp in Afghanistan in 2001. The letter in full.

The reprimand of US Air Force pilot Maj. Harry Schmidt in the killing of Canadians in Afghanistan, and the fine imposed on him for "dereliction of duty" are outrageos.

Maj. Schmidt exercised lethal force recklessly, thereby causing multiple deaths and injuries. Under any system to deter wrongdoing, the punishment should be proportional to the offence. In this case, it is not.

Possibly, the hearing officer was influenced by another factor: The failure of Schmidt's commanders.

Before taking off for a patrol over Afghanistan, a military pilot undergoes a briefing, including a review of the intended flight path. In this case, it should have included a warning of the Canadian life-fire exercise.

Caertainly, had he been forewarned, Schmidt would not have felt the urge to "roll in in self-defence."

Instead of command answering for its dereliction of duty, this aviator is treated leniently for his.

Neither is justice done, nor is it seen to be done.

Sounds good, right? The author of the letter makes many valid points. But here's the punch line: The author is named Naftali Lavie. Although the last name is decidedly French, the first name gives a hint to why the author might want the US military painted with tar and feathers, regardless of their actions. Just sayin'...

My weekend in Montreal left me with mixed feelings. First we heard on the radio that Marlon Brando had died. I was rather sad. Did anyone ever notice that his face is the face of the sphinx for the Hollywood Pictures logo?

We arrived in Montreal Friday evening, and had an awesome dinner out with one of my very good friends. After dinner, we headed downtown to meet up with my best friend and her husband, who were at the Theatre du Plateau seeing Evil Dead 1 & 2: The Musical. We headed off the Club Date in the Gay Village for karaoke. There's a guy there who does an amazing, virtually impossible Celine Dion, and a not-half-bad Alanah Myles. My friend's husband was duly impressed.

The car was broken into. It was a rental, and thankfully they did no damage, but they stole everything in the car. I'm glad we left our luggage at our friend's house. They took our pack of CD's, including the one my husband made me for our first Valentine's Day, with letter attached. That was the most valuable item in the car, as far as I'm concerned.

Saturday was hectic, trying to visit with everyone before being the guests of honor at a barbecue celebrating Canada Day.

Sunday morning dawned hot as Hell, and we were off to bury The Cottage. It was the saddest day of my life. There was nothing left to look at. Everything had been plowed into the ground or removed. The nextdoor neighbor, a friend of my dad's, said that the fire burned so hot that the cast iron woodstove melted to a bubbling pile of nothing. We did a bit of archaeological digging, and uncovered some beer cans from 1976, when my dad and his friends were laying the foundation. We also recovered a door handle, a charred support beam, and a tiny fragment of the woodstove. We baptized ourselves in the freezing Laurentian lake, and then headed back to the city.

Dinner with friends, and we left Monday morning. The traffic on the 401 heading back to Toronto was a nightmare (it always is - the 401 is the worst highway in the world), and I was glad to finally make it back.

I started my new job today, and it's non-stop stress already. I'm already doing overtime, and it's my first day! So I will blog whenever I can. They're setting up my network access tomorrow, so I can be Right Girl on my lunch break - if I ever get one!

Well folks, I'm off to spend the Canada Day weekend in Montreal, before coming back to Toronto to start my new job.

I'm looking forward to seeing all my friends, and we're having a big barbecue on Saturday night. Unfortunately, one of the tasks I must do will be on Sunday morning, when I go and collect the ashes (or whatever is left) of The Cottage. Mr Right and my two best friends are coming with me for support. I don't know how I will react to it. Mr Right is there to keep the space sacred, and keep anyone from disturbing me. H is there to make sure I don't kill myself. K is there for comic relief, and to buy me ice cream afterwards.

I will catch up with everyone on Monday night. If you feel like doing something nice while I'm away, go to Pamie's site of the 2004 San Diego Book Drive. Last year over 500 books were donated, two of them by me. Just tonight I donated The Lion, The
Witch, and The Wardrobe to the Lemon Grove Branch. Hard to believe there are kids in the world who might not have read this classic. Please let me or Pamie know if you make a donation. We'll plug your site or publicly call you a hero - whatever. Thanks. Happy Canada Day.

RG

Fahmi Mohamed Saeed (whoever he is) writes for Al Jazeera (and we all know who they are):

Is Islam urging and inciting Muslims to kill civilians, whether Americans, Europeans or from elsewhere? The answer is simply 'NO, NEVER'. In fact, Islam has nothing to do with terrorism. Islam is a word of love, peace, security, tolerance, stability, mercy and respect. Islam is derived from the word for 'peace'.

Islam respects all mankind, regardless of their religion, sex, color or language.

Yes, of course. We've all learned that over the past three years, haven't we?

Back to what has been going on in Saudi Arabia for the past two years. In my humble perspective, I think what Al Qaeda members are doing in Saudi Arabia is retaliating for the Iraqis and Palestinians who are being killed, tortured and humiliated by Americans.

Of course, Al Qaeda members are totally wrong and their actions are unjustified, because they are killing civilians who have nothing to do with what is going on in Iraq and Palestine.

My simple advice to Al Qaeda members is to go to either Iraq or Palestine to fight, kill and slaughter American and Israeli soldiers because that would be a real Jihad and they would be labeled as real freedom fighters and martyrs and because the Americans in Iraq and Israelis in Palestine are undoubtedly occupiers, killers, criminals and aggressors.

Hey Moore, are you reading this? These are your little brown pals, giving each other permission to kill our soldiers. But I guess you think they deserve it, don't you? Swine.

To conclude, Al Qaeda members fully believe that they are right in committing and perpetrating such acts against foreigners, but the reality is the contrary. They are wrong. Therefore, non Muslims don't have to blame Islam for the wrong actions committed by misled people (Al Qaeda members ).

Once again, Islam has nothing to do with such unjustifiable actions done by such misled people.

Because it is a religion of peace, after all.

I got a job. It only took a month. Mr Right and I now know that this mad journey to Toronto will amount to something. We can breathe a little easier.

In was on my way home from an unrelated interview last night, when the call came. Because I was underground on the subway, my answering service picked up. When I got in and checked the message, I told Mr Right he'd better change his clothes, since he was taking me for dinner. There was much joyful dancing around the living room, and this time I was dressed.

Well Toronto, we're staying. Thanks for the (extremely) generous welcome.